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Love
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"[A] poetic reckoning of the importance of love in a child's life . . . eloquent and moving."—People
"Everything that can be called love -- from shared joy to comfort in the darkness -- is gathered in the pages of this reassuring, refreshingly honest picture book."—The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice / Staff Picks From the Book Review
“Lyrical and sensitive, ‘Love’ is the sort of book likely to leave readers of all ages a little tremulous, and brimming with feeling.”—The Wall Street Journal
From Newbery Medal-winning author Matt de la Peña and bestselling illustrator Loren Long comes a story about the strongest bond there is and the diverse and powerful ways it connects us all.
"In the beginning there is light
and two wide-eyed figures standing near the foot of your bed
and the sound of their voices is love.
...
A cab driver plays love softly on his radio
while you bounce in back with the bumps of the city
and everything smells new, and it smells like life."
In this heartfelt celebration of love, Newbery Medal-winning author Matt de la Peña and bestselling illustrator Loren Long depict the many ways we experience this universal bond, which carries us from the day we are born throughout the years of our childhood and beyond. With a lyrical text that's soothing and inspiring, this tender tale is a needed comfort and a new classic that will resonate with readers of every age.
- Reading age2 - 7 years, from customers
- Print length40 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade levelPreschool - 3
- Dimensions9.92 x 0.39 x 11.26 inches
- PublisherG.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
- Publication dateJanuary 9, 2018
- ISBN-101524740918
- ISBN-13978-1524740917
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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From the Publisher
Love by Matt de la Peña; illustrated by Loren Long
In the beginning there is light and two wide-eyed figures standing near the foot of your bed and the sound of their voices is love.
Editorial Reviews
Review
#1 New York Times Bestseller
#1 Indie Bestseller
A Winter 2017-2018 Kids’ Indie Next Top Pick
Five Starred Reviews
An Amazon Best of the Year Pick 2018 – Ages 3-5
A Time Magazine Best Children’s Book of 2018
An NPR Best Book of 2018
"Accompanied by Loren Long’s charming illustrations, this book, also available in Spanish, celebrates how love exists in the ordinary and why we should treasure moments, big and small, with the people in our lives."—Time Magazine
"[A] poetic reckoning of the importance of love in a child's life . . . eloquent and moving."—People Magazine
"Everything that can be called love — from shared joy to comfort in the darkness — is gathered in the pages of this reassuring, refreshingly honest picture book."—The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice / Staff Picks From the Book Review
“Lyrical and sensitive, ‘Love’ is the sort of book likely to leave readers of all ages a little tremulous, and brimming with feeling.”—The Wall Street Journal
★ "De la Peña’s prose poem speaks right to young children. . . . People often talk to children about love; in these pages, they can see and feel what it’s like. And there’s plenty for everybody."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“This book looks into the darkness and still finds stars twinkling overhead.”—The New York Times Book Review
★ “From the moment prose and art appear in the opening spread, de la Peña and Long usher readers into a patient, pensive meditation on love. . . . Timely, timeless, and utterly necessary.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Newbery Award–winning De la Peña offers a lyrical ode to love in this stirring picture book. . . . In De la Peña’s lines, love becomes not just an emotion between people but a feeling suffusing the world.”—Booklist
★ “Long and Matt de la Peña . . . hit the mark with Love . . . a gentle, poetic picture book about love in all circumstances, even the tough ones.”—Shelf Awareness
★ "This heartfelt and sensitively rendered picture book meditation begs to be shared and discussed with children . . . Spread the love."—School Library Journal, starred review
★ “An exquisitely written and illustrated picture book that speaks of how love, even when it’s difficult to recognize, can percolate up through the most common of daily circumstances.”—The Horn Book, starred review
"Love – it's an abstract emotion, right? Not even close. These pictures and words describe a zillion ways to think of love . . . For readers, this book is a lifelong challenge to ask: What is love? And how can we create more of it in what we think and do and say?"—Justine Kenin, producer, All Things Considered, in NPR's Book Concierge Guide to 2018’s Great Reads
About the Author
Loren Long is the author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Otis series. He’s also the illustrator of the #1 New York Times bestseller Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama, as well as the re-illustrated, #1 New York Times bestseller The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper. He lives near Cincinnati with his wife, two sons, and two Weimaraners. Visit him online at LorenLong.com or on Twitter @lorenlong.
Product details
- Publisher : G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : January 9, 2018
- Edition : Illustrated
- Language : English
- Print length : 40 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1524740918
- ISBN-13 : 978-1524740917
- Item Weight : 1.23 pounds
- Reading age : 2 - 7 years, from customers
- Dimensions : 9.92 x 0.39 x 11.26 inches
- Grade level : Preschool - 3
- Best Sellers Rank: #121,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,020 in Children's Values Books
- #2,177 in Children's Books on Emotions & Feelings (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

Matt de la Peña's debut novel, Ball Don't Lie, was an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults and an ALA-YALSA Quick Pick and was made into a major motion picture. His second novel, Mexican WhiteBoy, was an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adult (Top Ten Pick), a Notable Book for a Global Society, a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book. His third novel, We Were Here, was an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Readers, an ALA-YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and a Junior Library Guild Selection. His fourth book, I Will Save You, was an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Readers, an ALA-YALSA Quick Pick, a Junior Library Guild Selection and finalist for the 2011 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. De la Peña’s fifth book, The Living, was a Junior Library Guild Selection, a 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults and a Pura Belpré Author Honor Book.
His short fiction and essays have appeared in the New York Times, NPR.org and various literary journals, including Pacific Review, The Vincent Brothers Review, Chiricú, Two Girls’ Review, The George Mason Review, and The Allegheny Review. De la Peña received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific, where he attended school on a full athletic scholarship for basketball. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he teaches creative writing. You can visit Matt and find out more about his books at mattdelapena.com and follow him on Twitter at @mattdelapena.

I have always been a huge fan of the the American School painters of the 1920s and '30s and I was particularly inspired by Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. I am also drawn to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) muralists. Many of these artists were from the Midwest, like me, and I felt a connection to them. They were storytellers.
That's what I like to do - tell stories. When I plan out the illustrations for a book, I pretend I'm making a movie. The words are like a screenplay and I'm choosing which scenes to bring to life.
Before THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD I never viewed myself as someone who would paint trains with eyeballs and cute little purple elephants. I began realizing who my audience is: little children who would actually be holding one of my books. I thought hard about the books I loved from my own childhood. THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD was always one of my favorites, as was THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY, THE STORY OF FERDINAND and Virginia Lee Burton’s books. I began thinking about creating books that, like these, might someday become a child’s favorite. This is where the idea for OTIS started.
I approach both writing and illustrating enthusiastically. If I’m going to illustrate a manuscript that someone else has written, it’s got to be something that I love. I have to love a story enough to do it and make it mine. I hope that doesn’t sound overly egotistical. But I feel that the book becomes as much mine as the author’s, and as much the author’s as mine.
For about a dozen years after getting out of school, I did illustrations for greeting cards, theater posters and magazines. But you never meet your audience when you do a picture for a magazine and it’s not really the product - you’re just decorating the product. In book publishing, on the other hand, the book is the product. After illustrating my first book, I knew I loved children’s publishing right away. I discovered that people cared - teachers, librarians, booksellers and kids. And I got to meet my audience.
This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I'm honored that several books that I've illustrated have received awards. Angela Johnson’s I DREAM OF TRAINS won the Society of Childrens' Book Writers and Illustrators' Golden Kite Award for picture book illustration. TOY BOAT by Randall DeSeve was awarded the 2007 Publisher’s Weekly Cuffie Award for Favorite Picture Book of the Year and the 2008 Great Lakes Book Award for Children's Picture Book. Walt Whitman’s WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN'D ASTRONOMER was a Golden Kite Honor Book and also won the 2004 Parents’ Choice Gold Award. I've also received two gold medals from the Society of Illustrators.
I live in Cincinnati with my wife and two boys, and two Weimaraners. If you'd like to learn more about my books, you can visit me at www.lorenlong.com.







































